"Hmmm," came Bromlin's sound of consideration at Mercuxio's suggestions. Fawley and Neil exchanged a quick look. The Lieutenant was not used to having his edicts questioned. "Well, father, you are of course the expert here when it comes to matters of the soul," Bromlin conceded and paused to chew on a piece of rabbit, "and while you are here, of course how the chapel is run is entirely up to you. Though I would ask you to consider soldier's morale when asking them to worship side by side with the mages. Most of these boys are young and unseasoned – of course the most experienced soldiers are needed out there – and most are away from their duchy on long deployments. None have had any leave from here. It's a lot to ask, father. Morale is a fragile thing in a place like this."
It seemed as though Bromlin was content to leave it there, but Neil spoke up again. "I would also keep in mind, father," she said pointedly, "that the 'prisoners' here, as you put it, are mages. Let's not pretend we don't know where their sympathies lie in this conflict. I'm sure while you're here you'll hear the odd mage who is genuinely seeking religious edification. But be wary of those whose goal is to weaken the position of the camps and of the government. From the lowliest peasants to our darling little noblewoman, at the end of the day, every one of them is a mage. Anything that moves in their favor is necessarily against ours. We shouldn't forget that."
Fawley looked up from his dinner for the first time since the conversation began. "I think the father just wants to make sure that everyone's religious concerns are considered," he offered, though he clearly didn't have half the confidence of the Mordecai. "Salvation is available to us all, after all, Major Neil."
Neil rolled her eyes at Fawley's use of the word 'us' in his comments. "Yes, of course, Captain, but we should always ask ourselves," she looked directly at Mercuxio now, "what these people's motives are."
While Mercuxio dined with the official leaders of the camp, Olive poured what passed for "tea" for what might be considered perhaps unofficial leaders in the camp. They were in Bess Martin's shack - one of several small sheltered clustered together in the camp, providing some security by the crowded surroundings. Bess was an older woman, perhaps sixty, practical and compassionate. With them were Lloyd Bremen, a woodworker in his fifties and something of a natural leader, and Darnel Jarrek, who wasn't much older than Olive, but was defiant, smart, and proactive.
"The evening livestock shift is being worked straight through dinner," Bremen was saying, laying out the latest trials being faced in the camp. "There are ten of them and they're not getting half enough at the other meals to keep them going through the day."
"I can supplement them with rations from the kitchen. I can't take enough to replace dinner, but I can get enough to put something in their stomachs," Bess answered. She went to great personal risk to take food from the soldiers' kitchen - where there was, of course, more spare food to take than the kitchen which served the mages. The woman sighed, though, as Olive handed her a mug. "I haven't seen anything pass through the kitchen that might help the illness those poor Caileigh kids are suffering, though. And another child's come down with it. Sometimes something passes through the kitchen, an herb or something that might help, but..."
"Oh," Olive interrupted, "I have something for them. I was going to say, but since you brought it up..." She fished a small pouch from where she'd hidden it beneath her shirt and handed it to Bess. Bess opened the pouch and looked at it in surprise; it contained proper healing herbs. Reading her expression, Olive added a bit sheepishly, "I got it from Lorent last night."
"'Lorent?'" came Darnel's derisive sneer. "Well, isn't that cozy. The captain is 'Lorent' now."
"Shut up, Darnel," Olive shot back, her tone exasperated. "It makes it easier, okay?" The three here were some of the few people in the camp that knew about the arrangements Olive had with the captain.
"I just want to make sure you don't forget who's on whose side in this. It's no good for anyone if you let 'Lorent' emotionally compromise you."
Olive opened her mouth to respond to Darnel, but a look from Bremen stopped her. It was a warning look, to both her and Darnel, to leave the subject be. And to be careful, though perhaps not for the same reason.
"Enough of that," he said, when the two backed off. "Good job, Olive. That's more than we could have hoped for." He waited a moment to make sure that the subject was going to rest before continuing. "We also have the issue of the priest who arrived last night. He might prove to be some comfort for some, but we should keep an eye on him."
Bess huffed. Before being rounded up and brought to the camps, she had been a practicing magic user - a healer living alone in the forest, tending to those who sought her out - and had no interest and little respect for the Church. But Darnel, for all his zeal, was also quite religious, and he responded with, "I went to confessional. He seemed fairly run-of-the-mill to me. Not warm, but mindful, respectful."
"Actually," Olive interjected, "we should be careful about that. I also went to confessional. Well... less to confess, I have to admit, and more to confront him with how the Church can sanction this," she told them, gesturing around her to the camp at large; no one looked particularly surprised that she had dared to do this. "Anyway, he said he would make an investigation into what I told him, and I had to remind him that the confessional was of course confidential. Well, not when it's an 'exceptional case,' apparently. So we should make sure people know - we know - to be careful what we say."
"Wait," Bremen held up a hand, looking intently at Olive, "did you say that you made accusations, and he promised to investigate?"
"You made accusations in a confessional?" was Darnel's question, but Bremen waved it away.
"Yes, I just... got carried away." At this no one looked surprised. "I don't really know what to make of it, but I feel we can't - or I can't - ignore his offer, though. I'm going back to talk to him tonight. Outside of the confessional." Now they did look a little surprised. "About Jackson and Carroll. ...And Orchid."
((Lion, feel free to jump in and write for any of these characters if you want! Or introduce a new one. Or just ignore it entirely, and I can keep writing it. :D))